Out Of The West

I wasn’t entirely ready to say goodbye to Greece.  There’s a lustiness, a boldness of spirit there that I just couldn’t get enough of.  It made me feel empowered, and brave, and so very excited.  For everything.  Excited to breathe deeply of the dirty air, and to get lost, and to love well.  Excited to dance my ass off, and to pursue beauty, and to laugh often.  Put simply, Greece and her people have breathed into me an even more voracious appetite for life, a wild longing of sorts.  And I love it.

There are so many Greek qualities I want to remember, to hold onto, to take with me.  I want to be demonstrative in my affection for those I love.  I want to speak my mind openly, without fear of judgment or rejection.  I want to continue to value and seek learning in all its forms.  I want to continue to discover cities from the back of a motorcycle (thanks, Vasily).  I want to pursue creativity always, believing this to be as fundamental to our development as where we choose to live, or what we do for work.  I want to remember, even through the grit and pain of daily life, what a gift it is to really live.

So while I couldn’t help but feel sadness, it wasn’t without deep joy and gratitude that I made my final European farewell.  Gratitude to Greece for the wildness she brought out in me.  To Europe, for teaching me how to do this thang on my own.  Mostly though, gratitude to my people.  To the people at home who continue to tangibly love me well in their consistent support and encouragement.  And to the people I’ve met along the way, who help me to believe in laughing, and dancing, and getting lost.  Who have been, to me, proof of hope, and magic, and real, live beauty. 

It was the perfect gift, to send me with such a full heart into Kenya, where the blazing equatorial sun asserted itself even before we touched down in Nairobi.  I found my driver, and did my best to breathe deeply of the filthy air as we found our way to the car.  I plopped my exhausted, sweaty self into the backseat as James entered into what can only be described as straight up traffic madness.  Nonplussed, he adjusted the radio and promptly began belting along to the first song he found, “A Whole New World”.  I couldn’t help but chuckle.  A whole new world indeed, I thought to myself.  Bring it on.